The Taste: Finale review :)

So as you can see, there is a smiley face in the title of this blog, which mean, i am happy from the results! and this is true! VERY HAPPY!
My girl Khristianne won it all! YESS!
but before we get into this amazing news, lets break down the whole night, because each thing that happened, was better than the last :)

So first, where there usually was an immunity challenge, there was an elimination instead.
The cooks were asked to make three spoons for the elimination challenge. and each person had the three spoons go up for review, not just one from each kitchen like before.
Because Nigella didn't have anyone left in her kitchen, she was a floating mentor for all the kitchens,a long with the help of their head chef.

Who was eliminated from this challenge  Gregg! now i know most people were so happy to see him leave (me included! lol) but i was also really shocked. Because the guest chef had some things to say about the other chefs spoons, but he had nothing bad to say about Greggs, so i thought for sure he was safe, and so did he. When he was leaving, he said that of course he was eliminated, because he was completely alone out in the kitchen, and everyone else had a chef working with them. But Ludo always paid more attention to Sarah, so he was alone. SO he was basically blaming Ludo for not teaching him properly. Oh well Gregg.. get over it. bye bye :)

Now on to the final three :)
Dianne, Sarah and Khristianne :)

Again, they each had to make three complimentary spoons for the judges, and serve them witha glass of wine. They needed to pair nicely and knock the judges socks off, because tonight, you weren't just going in to the bottom four, you were going home.

First they announced the 3rd place. Sarah. I know i said yesterday that i didn't like her, and didn't want her to win, and that is still true, but however, i am still somewhat proud to see a home cook make into the final 3 :) made me kind of proud even :) Good Job Sarah.

Then it was doen to just Dianne and Khristianne.
I was so nervous, i was shaking and tearing up as if it was me standing up there.
and then they pushed the button and a gold start appeared above Kristianne's head, and the look on her face of pure joy and excitement brought tears to my eyes.
I was so so happy for her! and Brian Malarkey couldn't have been happier either!

Im not sure what will happen for her from now on. But i cant wait to see :)
Maybe a tv show :) maybe her own restaurant :)
I dont know, but i will be following her on FB and Twitter.

I also hope that there will be another season for this show, and i will be watching from day one for sure :)

Sorry to say, but i am a geek. :)

So i just realized that i am a geek.
Well i didn't really JUST realize this... I just realized how much so last night.

So Brian (my husband) took me to the Maine Mall (which is a big deal to me because we never ever ever go to Portland haha!)
and after the mall we were going to go to Ulta (another big deal because i have never EVER been there but have always wanted to! lol)
Anyway, it was raining, and we had to park far away from the main entrance  so we entered the mall in the Best Buy door to get dry, and to just looked around a little. Well of course the Best Buy there has a few of each gaming system set up for you to play, and the WiiU caught my eye, and i played for a few mins... well i fell in love with it! And i told him i would really like one some time. And he told me to get it. i knew we didn't need it, and had many other things the money should have gone to. but he told me it was only fair that i got this, because he had bought a new lap top a couple months ago. i thought that was a very fair statement. So needless to say, we bought that instead of a shopping spree at Ulta.. lol :P :P

Guess ill have to save up some money and plan another trip to Ulta soon :) and maybe we wont even enter the mall.. or maybe we will hahah :P

The Taste: Finale tonight!!

Tonight is the Finale of The Taste competition, and i am very excited by the line up of who is left!
I have been saying since day one that i have absolutely love Khristianne  Uy!!
I hope she goes all the way tonight! Not only is she a fantastic chef, but she is funny, down to earth, and just seems like she deserves this :) Oh and by the way, i would absolutely love to watch her have her own cooking show! :) Id SO watch that :)

When the show first started, i also really liked Sarah. She is beautiful, seemed sweet and funny. and is a home cook like me. i was equally rooting for her aswel, but as the show continued, i started to like her a little less because she seemed to not really know what she was doing in the kitchen. She either had Chef Ludo showing her what she had to do, or she had the guest mentors showing her what she needed to do and helping her make her dishes. This may have been part of a plan of hers, or she may actually not know what she is doing, but gets lucky every now and then.

Dianne. There is something about her that im not sure i like... I do feel bad for her, thats he has had a hard like and has a family at home that needs her to win this thing so they dont have to go back to that hard life.. but at the same time, that is not what the challenge is about, and i hope that other people dont forget that this competition is about who can cook the best one taste dish, and not about who ha had the hardest life. im sure they will some day make a show about that, but this one is about cooking. Im sure that the other contestants could give you a sad story and ask to stay too. but that is now why they are there. they are there to prove they can cook.

And as for Gregg. He may be a wonderful chef and can make amazing meals, but as for the competition  i dont like it when people show favoritism to one person all they time. Who knows, maybe thats be past in working in child care centers for years, you cant show favorites, so i dont like when i see it in other placing of life. I dont like how Ludo always chose his dish, i also dont like how he always won immunity  Ludo should have gave other chefs a chance to get something up there too, and when he did, He chose Sarah, and hers one too. So maybe he could have won all those times, but with other cooks. So my point is, he has won a lot already in this show, let someone else have a chance.

So those are my opinions,
Tune in tonight at 9pm on ABC to see who wins.
And i will be back tomorrow to talk about the results.
See you all then, and until then, this is just my life :)

The Best way i have found to make iced coffee :)

I have had many iced coffees over the last few years, some at home, and some from coffee shops. Some delicious, and then... some not so much.

Now i have found the prefect way to make the best ice coffee at home. Its always ready, and always cold, all day long :)

Now this was involves using left over coffee and drinking it later that day or even the next day. My husband thinks that's gross because he can taste that its old, I personally can't taste the difference from a fresh one made 2 seconds ago, and the ones I make from my fridge. But I'm also not a picky person when it comes to my coffee. So I'll save you time, if you don't like the idea of drinking yesterdays coffee today, stop reading. :)

So here goes!

First, Brew hot coffee like you would normally do, how ever much you want, i promise none will go to waste. (The first time you will want to make a full pot to dedicate to this, but once you get a stash going in your fridge, you wont need to brew large hot pots (unless you want to) you will just be able to add the extra to keep your supply up :)

Feel free to enjoy a hot cup of coffee now, because your perfect iced coffee won't be ready until later.

Take an empty ice cube tray, and fill all the the squares with the coffee and place in the freezer.

Then take the rest of the hot coffee your not going to drink now and put it in a container with a cover in the fridge. (If you do like sugar in your coffee I like to add it now while its hot, just so it melts better, but that is just a personal preference.)

Now we just wait, wait for the coffee in the fridge to chill and the coffee ice cubes to freeze. And when they do, you will have the best tasting, home made iced coffee that will stay so cold all day because everything is already so cold to start with.

The special part is the ice cubes! Have you ever gotten an ice coffee, at a restaurant and the ice melts before you can drink it.. and waters it all down... gross. Don't add regular iced cubes, add ones made of more coffee of course! so when they melt, it will just add more coffee to your glass! How simple and how genius! If you like a sweet coffee with cream and sugar like I do, you may need to add more sugar and creamer as the ice melts to keep your flavor right. (I have not tried freezing coffee that is already mixed with cream and auger to see if that would work, but I should try that! Then as it melts it would still add the same flavor to the coffee! If you try it before I get a chance, leave it in the comments below and tell me how it turned out!)

With this recipe, your home made ice coffee will taste great and be fresh and cold ALL day. :)
Try it out and let me know what you think!!

Nivea Soft Moments Skin and Lip Care Collection

I got this gift set for Christmas this past year, and let me tell you, it is a heaven sent for dry winter skin! (and i cant wait to see what it does for dry summer skin aswel!) 

The kit includes a:

Nivea Minerals and Mint Refreshing Lip Care

Nivea Soft Moisturizing Skin Cream Mini
Refreshingly Soft Moisturizing Cream Tube 

I am not going to speak much about the Minerals and Mint lip balm because i actually already have a dedicated blog review for that already. You can go check that out in my previos blog list.


As for the skin cream, these are some of the best skin creams i have ever used on my skin ever.
The Mini jar type i throw in my purse and use it on the go, and it is great. I little of it really goes a long way this this stuff. I just dip my funger in and its enough to smooth over most of my arm.

And the tube kind i keep next to my sink and use it after i wash my hands to keep them soft.
it works great!

It goes on so light and smooth, you barely notice it is there. It is not greasy at all and just leaves your skin so soft.

It doesn't have much of a scent at all, so it is great for people who dont like scented lotions, or have allergies or something like that. (also great for people who work in places where they wash their hands a lot but cant wear scented lotions, like day cares and hospitals) 

I really do love these little mini lotions to throw in my purse and keep on the go, but when they run out, i will buy the original size for at home too.
I love them that much! 

Cover Girl Nature Luxe Mouse Mascara

So after many years of hating all the mascaras i had tried, i found this wonderful find, and i dont think i will every use another mascara again.

For many years i hated mascara because it made my eye lashes feel so clumpy, and heavy, and stuck together. And that feeling actually would give me headaches.
So about a year of so ago i decided i wasn't going to wear mascara at all, i had given up on it.
Until i saw the commercial for Cover Girl Luxe Mouse Mascara, and it said that it was a weightless mascara with no heavy particles and it was made from bees wax! i was very intrigued.
So when i found it at my local store, (and it was on sale!) i knew i had to have it!

the first time i put it on, i knew it was amazing. I honestly didn't even feel like i had any on at all, but my eyes looked amazing. No clumps, my eyes didn't look or feel heavy at all, and my eyes didn't look heavy with layers and layers of mascara either.

It is a very natural looking mascara, I definitely wouldn't say this mascara is going to give you a fantastic runway big huge lashes by any means, But it does give the average woman fantastic looking and feeling lashes, while still feeling comfortable. 

It does come in water resistant and in three colors, Black, Brown Black and Very Black. 

I currently use the Very Black, and would try the others to see what they are like too. 

It runs for about 8$ and has lasted me a while already, and doesn't even seem to be running low at all.
Defiantly worth the money and worth a try if you like a natural eye look. 

Go try it and give your eyes a beautiful light natural look. 

The Taste: The Art of the Sandwich

The Taste is on Tuesday on ABC at 9pm
(The time has moved from 8pm to 9pm!)

So last week was a sandwich Challenge!
And to quote one of my favorite cooks on the show Khristanne
"If you cant make a sandwich, then what the hell kind of chef are you?"
Perfectly said! if you cant make a good sandwich, you should not be cooking.

So the cooks first had to create a basic club sandwich, a PB&J, or a salad sandwich like Tuna, Chicken or Egg for the guest mentors. When each person makes those sandwiches, each kitchen judge will chose one from each kitchen to be tasted by the guest mentors.
The sandwich chosen by the guest mentores will earn immunity for elimination, and his/or her team will have the help of the guest mentores to help them when making their dishes for the regular judges that night.
And big surprise, Greg won immunity.
And its a good thing, because his sandwich was terrible at the end.

Lauren won with one of the best sandwiches of the night, and it looked delicious! it made me want to try and make a spicy yogurt dressing for a sandwich real soon!
Lauren was also left the only one standing on her team when Huda was sent home.
Also sent home was Mia, the first to be send home from Anthony's kitchen.

As i said i am really routing for Khristanne to win!
i just love her! :)





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check back next week for another review of the episode :)